AP Biology Lab 2 Conclusion Enzyme Catalysis 2A.

Test of Catalase Activity Catalase is an enzyme that is found in the peroxisomes of cells. It catalyzes the decomposition of H2O2. You can tell if catalase is working when you see bubbles, which means that oxygen is being created. You know that potatoes contain catalase because putting potatoes in H2O2 causes bubbles to be formed. When you boil catalase it becomes denatured because the enzyme is altered by the heat. 2B. The Baseline Assay The KMnO4 is used for titration of the solution. The baseline assay gives you the actual amount of H2O2 in the solution and it is necessary because without it you dont know how much H2O2. H2O was added to this sample because it reacts with KMnO4. 2C. The uncatalyzed Rate of H2O2 Decomposition We left this one overnight and added no enzyme to it. We added water instead to keep the concentration the same. There should be slightly less because without an enzyme the reaction should still take place, just very slowly. Evaporation would lead to a higher concentration of H2O2. Without catalase the reaction simply takes place far too slowly for cells to utilize it. 2D. Without the catalase there is no reaction, so we added it to all parts to be consistent. As for the H2SO4, we used it because it neutralizes the H2SO4, freezing the reaction. Since there is less H2O2 not as much KMnO4 is needed to indicate the pH of the solution. The slopes on the time intervals tell you the rate of reaction during a given period of the reaction. The 0-10 seconds is the highest because there is plenty of H2O2 to decompose during that period. Well our groups does follow the trend, put imperfections in our data could be caused by the evaporation of water which would increase the concentration of H2O2.